


A Reminder You Are Loved

by TheLastLonelyWriter



Series: Camelove 2021 [3]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Camelove2021, Canon Era, Day 3: Wait..What? "It's Wednesday.", F/M, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Gen, Hurt Gwaine (Merlin), Self-Worth Issues, Stitches, these tags are going to sound angsty but I swear it isn't, warnings aside
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:08:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29349447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLastLonelyWriter/pseuds/TheLastLonelyWriter
Summary: Alice's move to Camelot and a sudden injury lead to a conversation about family ties and ends in a letter that serves as a reminder of love.Written for Camelove Day 3 - Wait.. What? "It's Wednesday."
Relationships: Alice/Gaius (Merlin), Gaius & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gaius & Merlin (Merlin)
Series: Camelove 2021 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2151726
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11
Collections: Camelove 2021





	A Reminder You Are Loved

“You’re sure Merlin doesn’t mind being moved out,” asked Alice, looking up from unlocking her truck, which stood still packed in the middle of the room. 

“Most likely, he’s eternally grateful to you- the king’s given him his own rooms now. He says he’s looking forward to making them as messy as possible without having me scold him about it,” replied Gaius, scanning a shelf of books.

Alice tucked the key to her trunk back into her pocket and opened the lid. 

“Everyone’s entitled to a messy room,” she said, watching as Gaius found the book he was looking for and pulled it from the shelf.

“If there’s one thing I am willing to dedicate my life to,” said Gaius idly, “it’s making sure that you and Merlin never meet. Life is much easier if I only have to deal with one of you at a time.”

He made his way across the room to the table beside where Alice was working. 

“So far, you’re doing quite well. I haven’t seen him save for in passing,” said Alice, pulling a stack of neatly folded clothing out of the trunk. 

“I’m sure that you’ll see him soon enough. He’s always getting into some kind of dangerous trouble,” said Gaius, flipping through the pages of his book slowly. 

Alice stood, carrying the stack of clothes up the steps and into the back room. 

“Tell me more about this sorcerer that you’ve adopted,” she said, as she opened the wardrobe door.

Gaius looked up as Alice began adding her clothing to the wardrobe. He glanced for a moment out the window, where the sounds of the knights beginning their training could be distantly heard. 

“As a general rule,” he said, “the less you know about his mischief, the better.”

Alice laughed, shaking out and then refolding a dress. 

“I’m sure he can’t be that bad.”

“He most certainly is,” said Gaius, returning to his work and looking around the table. “Do you remember where I left the-”

“The herb basket is behind you,” replied Alice, coming back into the room. “Now, tell me about Merlin. I want to know about this accidental family I’m joining.”

“I’ll tell you once I’m done bundling these herbs,” said Gaius, with a sigh.

Alice nodded, and then pulled a small wooden box from the trunk, coming to sit across from Gaius at the table. She spent a moment fishing another key out of her pocket, and then carefully unlocked the box, opening it to reveal several tiered shelves of tiny bottles inside. Gaius tied a final bunch of herbs together with string, setting several bunches aside. Standing, he began to clear away the tools he had been using.

“You’re done with the herbs,” prompted Alice. 

“The most important part of work as a physician-,” began Gaius, hanging the bundles of herbs from several nails driven into the support beams.

“Is keeping your workspace clean,” finished Alice. “I remember. And I can see that you’ve really put that ideology to good use since we’ve last worked together.”

She paused from her work of removing the bottles from the box to gesture at the various cluttered surfaces around the room. Gaius didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed. 

“Those projects aren’t done yet,” he said, sitting down again. 

“And you still lectured Merlin over some clothes being out of place,” said Alice, clicking her tongue. 

“You didn’t see the way he kept that room,” said Gaius, folding over the corner of a page and flipping back to another marked spot in the book. 

“That’s no way to treat your son,” said Alice, carefully writing a new label for one of the bottles.

“I’ve no idea where you’ve gotten this idea about Merlin being my son, but you’ve been misinformed.”

Alice looked up. Gaius was setting up a blackened metal contraption on the table, preparing to light a fire in the basin at its bottom. 

“Now, now,” said Alice, “I know you. You have a habit of adopting any troublemaker that comes along and I’m sure you already consider him like a son.”

Gaius hummed in response, watching the small flame closely as it heated up. He turned back to his book, running his finger down a block of text to find the instructions he needed. 

“If I do, that means that he’s your responsibility now too,” he pointed out.

Alice finished pasting the new label onto a bottle, and paused to consider Gaius’ statement.

“Only if you let me meet him,” she declared, moving on to the next bottle. “Tell me, what is he like?

For a long moment, Gaius didn’t answer. Alice finished labeling another bottle, and looked up. Gaius was testing the heat of the flame with a water dampened stick, frowning faintly. Whether his thoughtfulness was directed at his work or the thought of Merlin, Alice didn’t know.

“I’m always having to remind him to rest, he’s so busy doing everything for everyone. He’s kind, but I’m rather suspicious that he believes he’s the only one in Camelot who will ever do anything right,” said Gaius, at last. 

“So he takes after you,” said Alice, dipping her quill in the ink. “Everyone should be helped but you’re the only one you trust to do it.”

Gaius set the testing stick aside, glancing again at the window. 

“I trust Merlin,” he said, firmly. “And I trust you.”

Gaius settled back into his work, taking the bundles of herbs he had set aside and pulling flowers and yellowed leaves off of them. Alice watched him, _I trust you_ echoing in her head.

“Is he as argumentative as you are as well?” she said, busying herself in her own work.

“I might even say he’s worse,” said Gaius, with a laugh. 

Alice gasped.

“And I didn’t think that was possible!”

Gaius moved on to carefully cleaning a clear glass bottle with a fresh cloth from the stack sitting on the table. Alice held one of the bottles up to the light, swirling it around a moment before picking the old label off of it. 

“Merlin,” she said, slowly. “He’s friends with the king, isn’t he?”

Gaius laughed softly. 

“People always think I’m lying when I mention it, and with the way those two argue, I don’t blame them. But they’re nearly inseparable. I’m really getting rid of two boys, when Merlin moves out.”

Alice shook her head in disbelief.

“He’s got a long way to go, but even that proves that he’s not his father. A friendship with a servant.”

Alice finished her labeling, lining up the bottles in neat rows next to the box. Gaius cut a stem off of one of the herbs and held in above the flame, watching a faint wisp of smoke curl up from the plant.

“A friendship with a servant,” he agreed, “who’s also a commoner from another kingdom, and a powerful magic user.”

“Does it count if he doesn’t know about the last part?” asked Alice, glaring faintly into her work.

“He knows,” said Gaius.

Alice looked up sharply, dropping the bottle she had been holding onto the table with a soft clatter. Gaius glanced from the bottle to her face several times before looking back down at his own work.

“It’s a recent development,” added Gaius. 

“And he took it well?” asked Alice, picking up her dropped bottle again.

Gaius considered the question, drawing a new cloth and wrapping it around the outside of the bottle he had been cleaning. 

“He’s doing his best,” he decided. “It’s more than his father ever did.”

Alice watched Gaius for a moment, as he closed his eyes and took a breath. Alice knew how close he had come to dying during the purge, and the price he had paid for his life. She knew how hard it weighed on him.

“If he isn’t like his father,” she said, when Gaius had recovered, “what is he like?”

“Good,” said Gaius, picking up the bottle, careful not to touch the glass. “Trusting. Frequently afflicted with magical injuries.”

“Magical injuries?” questioned Alice, beginning to place the freshly labeled bottles back into their box.

Gaius flipped the bottle upside down, holding it high over the flames. With his other hand, he held one small clump of herbs just above the heat, catching the sweet smelling smoke in the bottle above. 

“Merlin can’t keep him out of trouble all the time,” he said. “And he’s rather prone to magical damage.”

“He had best be grateful for all of the magic users willing to patch him up,” said Alice, continuing to pack away her bottles.

“He’d be dead many times over without Merlin,” said Gaius, switching to a new clump of herbs, “and he knows it.”

“I’d imagine that some of his safety he owes to you as well,” remarked Alice, arranging the bottles within the box to stand neatly side by side. “Or at least the childhood that Uther couldn’t find the time to give him.”

“I believe that the better parts of his childhood he owes to Leon and Elyan,”said Gaius, twirling the blackened herbs over the flames to work on a new section. “It always seemed like if they weren’t here, they were out getting injured again.”

“That’s just how little boys aren, isn’t it?” said Alice, closing up her box and relocking it. 

“I would agree with you,” said Gaius, reaching for more of the herbs, “if the habit hadn’t stayed with them through being knighted.”

Alice laughed. She stood, carrying her box across the room and setting it down on another table. 

“Elyan-” she said, pausing to think, “wasn’t he a commoner?”

“Arthur and Leon got to be very skilled in sneaking him in to get help,” said Gaius, holding the last of the herbs over the flame. 

Alice began clearing a space of one of the shelves by the door, stacking loose papers and organizing boxes and bottles into neater rows. She glanced over her shoulder at Gaius, who was still watching his work intently. 

“And they trusted you to keep their secret,” she said, pointedly. 

Gaius set down the herbs and quickly stoppered the bottle, setting it down on the table. He unwrapped the cloth, revealing a glass bottle now half greyed with swirling wisps of smoke. 

“I have no idea what you’re trying to say,” he said, turning back to the book he had been working out of and flipping back to the page that he had marked earlier. 

Alice watched him as he read through the paragraph written on that page and held his bottle next to one of the pictures, comparing the colors and patterns while muttering softly under his breath. 

“Like I said earlier,” she remarked, turning back to the shelves, “you’re very predictable. Any troublemaker that comes asking for help-”

“They were children,” said Gaius, setting aside his bottle, “It’s a miracle that they picked someone to trust who really did keep their secret. It meant nothing that it happened to be me.”

“And yet, they continue to share their secrets with you,” pointed out Alice, sliding her box into the space she had created on the shelf. “Even now that they know to choose carefully who they trust. That’s worth noting.”

“Whatever do you mean?” asked Gaius, looking away from his work as Alice returned to the trunk in the middle of the room.

“How many secrets have you kept for the knights?” asked Alice, looking down at the various things in the trunk. “I know you knew Lancelot’s lie when he first came to Camelot, and I know that you have made Arthur’s excuses to the court many times.” 

She turned and looked at Gaius, hands on her hips, and arched her eyebrow with a look of superiority. 

“Arthur trusts you completely,” she added, with a huff. 

“I have always kept secrets for the king of Camelot,” said Gaius, looking down at his hands. 

Shaking his head, he stood and closed the book he had been using. Alice watched him a moment longer, before beginning to pull a selection of larger bottles out of the trunk, piling them on the table behind her. 

“I’m glad that the secrets I keep for Arthur are less harmful than those I kept for his father,” said Gaius, returning the book to it’s spot on the shelf. 

“And the knights?” asked Alice. “You aren’t beholden to them as you are to the throne, but you care about them all the same. 

“I’m only doing my job, healing them when they are hurt,” said Gaius, watching Alice begin to sort the bottles by their contents.

“Are you only doing your job when you offer them advice,” asked Alice. “Or comfort them after a battle, or know them well enough that you know which days the stress will be too much and tell Arthur to let them off for training?”

“What aim does this barrage of questions have?” said Gaius, throwing up his hands in defeat. “What would you have me confess?”

Alice looked up from sorting the bottles. 

“I only want to know what I’ve gotten myself into. You’ve quite clearly found a family here, and I want to properly be a part of it,” she said. 

Gaius moved back across the room to the table, beginning to move his tools back to where he had gotten them from. 

“With the amount of chaos that the knights cause,” he said, smiling in the general direction of the window, from which loud shouts could now be heard, “you may wish to withhold that statement until you’ve really met them.”

Alice laughed. 

“You can’t go even a moment without sounding like their father,” she said. “Do you scold them over messy rooms as well?”

Gaius opened his mouth to argue, but Alice turned away, carrying several of the bottles over to a counter across the room. Smiling, Gaius returned to his work. The room filled with the soft sound of clinking bottles as Alice began sorting through the bottles already stored on the shelf, adding her supplies to Gaius’. 

The door suddenly flew open, slamming hard against the wall. 

“Gaius!” shouted Merlin, elbowing the door back open as it swung back towards him. 

“What is it now, Merlin?” said Gaius, not looking up. 

Merlin stumbled into the room, half dragging and half carrying Gwaine with him. Blood was soaking through the bottom of Gwaine’s pants leg, staining both his and Merlin’s clothing red. 

“Gwaine’s injured himself again,” said Merlin, as both Alice and Gaius rushed to help him, “Tell him he needs to actually get help this time.”

“Sit him down,” said Gaius, turning to find a clean set of bandages. 

Merlin pushed Gwaine to sit down on the cot, even as Gwaine continued trying to leave. 

“I’m fine, really,” he said, trying to pull his arm away from Merlin, “Merlin’s just overreacting.”

“Gwaine, one of us has studied medicine-” began Merlin. 

“I don’t need the two of you fighting while I’m working,” said Gaius coming back over with bandages and a small bottle. “Alice, make sure he doesn’t leave.”

“Hello, Alice,” said Merlin, having only just noticed her. 

Gwaine slipped out of Merlin’s grasp while he was distracted, standing unsteadily and starting for the door. 

“Gwaine, sit down!” said Merlin, grabbing Gwaine’s hand as he passed and pulling him back towards the cot. 

“But Merlin-” began Gwaine, cutting off as his leg buckled and he dropped onto the cot. 

“He’s right,” said Alice, “you need help. Walking around on it is only going to make it worse. Stay sitting.”

Gwaine shut his eyes, flinching as Merlin pushed the cloth away from the gash on his leg. 

“He’s not trying to leave, is he?” said Arthur, appearing in the doorway. 

Alice handed Merlin a fresh cloth to clean blood away from the wound as Arthur wove around the tables in the room to stand behind Gwaine.

“Of course he is, what did you expect?” said Merlin, voice angry even as his touch on the injury was gentle. 

“What did you do this time?” asked Gaius, sitting next to Merlin and soaking a new cloth in the bottle he had gotten. 

“It’s a shallow wound, it’ll heal on its own,” protested Gwaine, even as he leaned back against Arthur, face pale.

“It most certainly is not!” objected Alice, hurrying away to retrieve something from across the room. 

“She’s right,” said Gaius, taking over from Merlin and dabbing at the gash as it stopped bleeding. “Some of it will have to be stitched soon, before you work it open any more, Alice, could you get me the-”

Alice passed Gaius another cloth, along with a stone bowl containing a pale green paste. 

“What did you even do?” asked Merlin, moving aside so that Gaius could work. 

“I told you, it’s nothing,” insisted Gwaine, wincing as Gaius finished clearing blood from his leg. 

Merlin took a deep breath and Arthur looked like he was having to seriously focus on not yelling. 

“He was sparring with new recruits and one of them got his leg,” said Arthur. “And then he decided not to tell anyone for a whole day because he’s an idiot-”

Gaius smeared some of the paste onto his cloth.

“Hold still,” he warned, before pressing the cloth to the top of the gash. 

Gwaine flinched away again, and Arthur and Merlin both reached out to hold him still. Gaius pulled the cloth away, and the paste had turned a faint grey. He wiped the paste into a bowl that Alice held out and began to repeat the process.

“What is that?” asked Gwaine, staring blankly at the grey paste.

“Dirt, mostly,” replied Merlin, frowning. “He’s cleaning out the wound- what have you been doing?” 

“He tried to do training on it,” said Arthur, as Gwaine hissed in pain. 

“We’ve talked about this-” began Gaius, looking up from his work to glare at Gwaine.

“I didn’t think it was this bad!”

“Do you have eyes?” asked Merlin, in disbelief. 

Gaius tossed the cloth onto a table, running a dry cloth over the wound again to remove the last of the paste. Gwaine winced, and Arthur grabbed his shoulders to hold him still.

“If you hadn’t been so stupid, this wouldn’t be happening!” he pointed out, and Gwaine waved him off. 

“Calm down, Princess, people are going to start thinking you care-”

“Gaius knows what he’s doing,” said Merlin, mostly to himself, “it’ll be fine.”

“Alice, I’ll need the-” began Gaius, and turned to find Alice already holding out a small wooden box. 

“Here,” she said, “I’ve already washed the needle.”

Gaius opened the box, drawing out a needle that had already been strung. 

“Merlin,” he said, “you’ll need to hold him still.”

Merlin, who was frantically searching through a mess of bottles across the room spun around, pointing at Arthur. 

“Arthur, keep him still,” he demanded, “I’ll get something for the pain.”

Arthur frowned, wrapping his arms around Gwaine’s shoulders to hold him in place. Merlin continued working his way through the bottles as Gaius began his work. 

“Merlin, the blue one,” called Alice, who was busy holding Gwaine’s leg in place. 

Merlin pulled a thin blue bottle out of the mess, hurrying back across the room to Gwaine. Gwaine opened his eyes as Merlin approached. 

“What is that?” he demanded. 

Arthur groaned, glancing around Gwaine to watch Gaius continue working. Merlin held the bottle towards Gwaine’s mouth. 

“Just drink it and focus on me,” he ordered, and Gwaine swallowed the medicine. 

“Is he almost done?” asked Gwaine, falling back against Arthur’s chest again. 

Merlin set the bottle aside with shaking hands and watched Gaius, biting his lip. 

“Just a few more,” answered Gaius. 

“This would have been much easier if you had just let someone take care of it earlier,” said Merlin, twisting his fingers together for lack of something to do with his hands.

“I’ll be fine, won’t I?” pointed out Gwaine, with too much of a question in his voice for it to sound confident, “So it’s alright.”

“Just because Gaius can help you when you’ve nearly killed yourself doesn’t mean he should have to!” said Merlin, watching anxiously as Gaius finished his last stitch. 

“Done,” Gaius said, “pass me the-”

“Here,” said Alice, handing him a fresh cloth and turning to Gwaine, “Just one more moment.”

Gwaine’s head rolled back against Arthur’s shoulder, and Merlin spun on his heel, darting back across the room to the mess of bottles he had left.

“Merlin!” called Arthur, “I think he’s going to pass out!” 

“I know!” called back Merlin. 

“You’re not worried, are you, Princess?” laughed Gwaine, weakly. “That might ruin your image.”

Gaius began quickly wrapping the wound in bandages, and Merlin found the bottle he was looking for, hurrying back across the room. 

“Shut up, idiot,” he muttered, unstopping the bottle and holding it to Gwaine’s mouth. “Drink this and don’t fall asleep.”

Gwaine managed, with much more difficulty this time, to take the medicine, and Merlin watched carefully to make sure that he drank it all. 

“There,” said Gaius, sitting back, “it’s done.”

Merlin and Arthur both visibly relaxed, and Gwaine smiled at them. 

“I told you it wasn’t that big of a deal-” he began, but Merlin cut him off with a glare. 

“Don’t let him work on it anytime soon,” said Gaius, to Arthur. 

Arthur nodded, and Merlin rolled his eyes. 

“That’s easier said than done,” he muttered. 

“But you’ll have to make sure he doesn’t,” warned Alice, carefully cleaning the bowls and needle that Gaius had used, “he’ll hurt it worse if he tears it again while he’s trying to fight.”

“The others are under strict orders not to let him train,” said Arthur. 

“Can I sleep now?” interjected Gwaine, eyes still closed. 

“Let him rest,” directed Gaius, “If he’s sleeping then he isn’t trying to work again.”

Arthur and Merlin carefully moved Gwaine to lay down on the cot, arranging his leg so that he wouldn’t put strain on the stitches. Gwaine was out nearly immediately, visibly relaxing as he nodded off. 

“You’re sure that the knights know he can’t fight?” asked Merlin. “He’s rather good at getting past your orders-”

“Merlin, he’ll be fine,” said Gaius, washing his hands. “You did well helping him.”

“Here, Merlin,” said Alice, gathering bowls and herbs on a nearby table, “come help me with this for when he wakes up- it’ll be good to have something to do with your hands.”

Merlin smiled gratefully, helping Alice bring a heavy mortar and pestle down from a high shelf. Arthur hung back by the cot, rubbing the fabric of his shirt between his fingers.

“You’ll do no good hovering over him like that,” said Gaius, sitting down, “come tell me in more detail what happened.”

Arthur moved hesitantly to sit by Gaius. Merlin began crumbling dried herbs into the mortar while Alice watched. 

“It’ll be alright,” she said, soothingly, “Gaius did a clean job.”

“I know, I know,” said Merlin, with a sigh. “He’s good- I owe him all my knowledge of medicine.”

“He must have been a good teacher then,” said Alice, handing Merlin a vial of water to add in. “You knew just what to do. Your friend couldn’t have asked for better care.”

“His instruction has saved me many times,” admitted Merlin, smiling. 

“The two of you work well together.”

“I could say the same to you. I can tell he trusts you.”

Alice held out a bowl for Merlin to pour the crushed herbs into. 

“We worked together for a long time, before the purge,” she admitted, passing Merlin another bottle of water to mix in.

“Is that why you cut the herbs the same way he does?” asked Merlin, thoughtfully. 

“The other way around, actually,” said Alice, with a smile. “I taught him that method.”

“I thought so,” said Merlin. “He’s always sighing into the herbs. It’s gotten worse since you’ve returned. I know it must have been something like that.”

“What sort of lies are you spreading over there?” called Gaius. 

Merlin turned away from his work and placed a hand over his heart. 

“I would never,” he said, and Gaius raised an eyebrow.

Arthur looked up at Merlin in disbelief. 

“Never what, Merlin?” he asked. “Lie?”

Merlin rolled his eyes, returning to the mixing he was doing.

“You don’t get to talk to me about lying,” he declared.

Arthur shook his head, watching Merlin work. Alice prepared another bottle for Merlin to pour his mixture into. 

“It’s not like he’s telling me anything I wouldn’t have found out eventually,” said Alice. 

“The signs of love are obvious to those who look!” Merlin called over his shoulder as he swirled the drink he had finished. 

“What is that even supposed to mean?” demanded Arthur. 

“You wouldn’t know,” said Merlin. 

“There,” said Alice, as she stoppered the bottle. “That’ll be ready for when he wakes up.”

“It’ll take care of anything I missed when I was cleaning the wound,” explained Gaius, when Arthur frowned in the general direction of Merlin’s work. 

“More of a precaution than anything,” added Alice. “Gaius’ work was very thorough.”

“He’s the best physician I’ve ever seen,” whispered Merlin, more to himself than anything else.

“Lying again, Merlin,” said Gaius. 

“I am not!” declared Merlin, hands on his hips. 

“When do you think he’s going to wake up?” cut in Arthur, standing and crossing to stop next to Merlin. 

“Not soon,” said Gaius. “And if he does, get him back to sleep quickly. I don’t think he’s slept since he injured himself. He’s been running on pure adrenaline.”

Merlin winced in sympathy, and Arthur closed his eyes for a moment. 

“In the meantime,” said Alice, placing a comforting hand on Merlin’s shoulder, “it won’t do any good for the two of you to hang around worrying. Find yourselves something distracting to do.”

Merlin glanced around the room, pausing on the bottles that Alice had been unpacking when Merlin had arrived. 

“We could help you finish unpacking,” he offered.

Gaius sighed. 

“They’ll want to stay close,” he said to Alice. 

Alice squeezed Merlin’s shoulder. 

“Let’s get to work, then” she said. “I’ve been adding my supplies to Gaius’, but the room is such a mess that it’s been a long process.”

“Come on, Arthur,” said Merlin, dragging Arthur with him to the bottles, “let’s see if you're capable of learning something new.”

“How dare you-” began Arthur, stopping short so that Merlin pitched forward when he tried to walk. 

“Would you like me to bring up the last time-” asked Merlin.

“What are we doing again?”

Merlin grinned. 

“That’s what I thought.”

He set about arranging the bottles, holding them up so that Arthur could see the contents. After a moment, Arthur began to help. Alice moved to stand beside Gaius as he set about continuing the work that Merlin had interrupted. 

“He’s a good physician,” she said, watching Merlin and Arthur bicker. “You’ve taught him well.”

“I’ve done my best.”

“You can be proud of him,” teased Alice. “It’s alright, I won’t tell.”

“I am proud of him,” said Gaius, pausing his work. “He did well.”

Merlin shooed Arthur’s hands away from his work, and Gaius smiled before returning to his work. Alice frowned as he began to skim a book he was working out of. 

“Go and rest,” she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “We’ve got it covered, and you can’t just keep working after that.”

“I should be-” began Gaius, but Alice cut him off. 

“I’ll do it. You go and finish the research you’ve been doing. I know you didn’t want to stop earlier.”

Gaius set down his work, glancing at the back room. 

“I knew letting you meet Merlin would be a bad idea,” he muttered. 

“Because now you’ll have to avoid two people when you want to overwork yourself?” Alice asked. “Go. Rest.”

“Don’t keep arguing, Gaius,” Merlin called. “You’re losing.”

Gaius laughed. 

“Very well then. You all win.”

He made his way into the back room, collecting a heavy book from the side table and a stack of notes written in cramped handwriting as he went. Alice closed the door after him, before moving to watch Merlin and Arthur work through the bottles. 

“Does he still do that to himself, even now?” she asked, and Merlin looked up.

“As much as he can,” he admitted.

Arthur held out a bottle, and Merlin took it, absentmindedly, adding the contents of the bottle he was holding to it. 

“How someone who is such a good physician can forget to take care of himself is beyond me,” said Alice, with a sigh. 

“I’m guilty of it as well,” said Merlin, with a shrug. “Get too busy taking care of other people. My own health takes the sacrifice.”

“It’s true,” said Arthur, pausing to lean across the table and ruffle Merlin’s hair. “This one would never sleep if he wasn’t reminded to.”

“A family trait then,” said Alice, and Merlin grinned. 

“Something like that, yeah,” he said, looking back at the room where Gaius had disappeared. 

“They’re something to watch,” said Arthur, “when nothing life threatening is happening. It’s like they have the same brain.”

“It wasn’t life threatening,” said Merlin, glancing at Gwaine.

“That happens when two people work together for long enough,” said Alice. “That bottle there,” she added, pointing out the bottle that Arthur was searching for. 

“There’s no one I’d trust my life to more than them,” said Arthur, in a forced off-hand voice. 

Alice smiled as Merlin smiled down at his lap. Arthur didn’t look at Merlin, his cheeks now a bright red. 

“Well,” Alice said, “I haven’t seen Merlin do much work as a physician yet, but I’m sure I’ll agree with you once I have.”

“You know Gaius before the purge, right?” cut in Merlin, fumbling with the bottle he was holding. 

Alice took pity on him, nodding. 

“Did he ever really study magic?” asked Merlin. “He still won’t tell me, even after all the time I’ve spent with him-”

“Merlin!” hissed Arthur, glancing at the door to room, which was still somewhat open from Arthur’s hurried entrance. 

“What?” said Merlin. “We all know-”

“Only for a short while,” said Alice. “He only wanted to know what would help him with his study of medicine. Everything else he learned along the way.”

Merlin gave up on the pretense of still being working, setting away the bottles he had been shuffling around the table and resting his chin on his hands. 

“Is that when he met you?” he asked. 

“It is,” replied Alice, with a smile. 

“Do you know magic as well?” asked Arthur, faintly. 

He was looking the other way, not quite meeting either Merlin or Alice’s eyes, folding in on himself like he was trying to pretend that it wasn’t him who had asked. Alice wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“I do,” she said, firmly. “I studied much longer than Gaius did. I trust that’s not a problem?”

Arthur sighed deeply, twisting the ring on his finger. 

“I’m trying to convince the court that it isn’t.”

Merlin reached out and placed a hand gently over Arthur’s. 

“Gaius has been a great help in that effort,” he told Alice. 

“Has he?” asked Alice, tilting her head. “He’s been so hesitant to talk about it.”

Merlin bit his lip, lost in thought for a moment. He glanced again at the back room, running one finger across the back of Arthur’s hand unthinkingly.

“He-” Merlin began, slowly. “He feels that it’s his duty. To amend for what he did during the purge. As such, he doesn’t want the recognition. He doesn’t think that he deserves it.”

“What happened during the purge was my father’s fault and my father’s alone,” said Arthur, glaring hard at the wood of the table. 

“He’s never been very good at forgiving himself,” said Alice, softly. 

“He was more of a father to me than Uther was,” said Arthur, smiling faintly. “I spent most of my childhood either on the training field or bothering him here.”

“He’s practically my father by now,” added Merlin. 

“A habit,” said Alice, shaking her head. “A habit I tell you.”

“And I’m not sure I can still count the number of times he’s saved us, or any of the knights,” said Merlin, grinning. “There’s not an absurd injury that we haven’t returned from patrols with, by now.”

“How anyone could keep up with the sheer number of injuries Gwaine and Elyan amass is beyond me,” said Arthur, with a laugh. “And yet, he does.”

As if summoned by his name, Gwaine shifted on the cot, blinking awake. 

“Have you already abandoned me?” he called, and Merlin rolled his eyes even as he and Arthur both stood. 

“We expected you to be out for much longer,” he said, kneeling beside the cot to poke Gwaine in the arm. “You should have been out for much longer.”

“What can I say?” said Gwaine, wincing slightly as he shifted, “I’m a miracle.”

“The miracle is that you haven’t died yet,” said Arthur. 

Merlin stood and found the mixture he and Alice had made earlier. 

“If you’re awake,” he said, handing it to Arthur, who handed it to Gwaine, “you should drink that. It’ll finish cleaning out your wound.”

Gwaine drank the mixture with only minimum complaint in the form of pulling a face at the taste. Alice handed Merlin another bottle. 

“Have him take this,” she said, and Merlin brought it over to Gwaine. 

“What’s this?” Gwaine asked, eyeing the bottle.

“It’s going to knock you out again,” said Alice. “You need the sleep.”

“Don’t you dare argue,” said Merlin. “You really do need the sleep. Drink it.”

Gwaine rolled his eyes and drank it. 

“You can’t get rid of me this easily,” he said, handing the empty bottle to Merlin. “I’ll keep coming back.”

“I don’t know,” said Arthur, “it seems to be working so far. We might have to order that mixture be made in bulk.”

Gwaine made a half-hearted swipe at Arthur’s leg, which Arthur easily side-stepped. 

“Leave him alone,” said Merlin, somewhat to both of them at the same time.

“Yeah,” said Gwaine, choosing only to direct Merlin’s comment at Arthur, “listen to Merlin, Princess.”

“You shut up and sleep,” ordered Merlin, frowning. “I won’t have you hurting yourself any more just because you’re too stubborn to rest.”

Gwaine sighed deeply, but he was already starting to drift off again. Merlin reached over and brushed a stray curl of hair off of Gwaine's cheek as Gwaine's breathing slowed into sleep. 

Arthur led Merlin back to the table where Alice was sitting with an arm around his shoulders, sitting next to him this time instead of across the table. Merlin leaned against his shoulder, fidgeting with his scarf.

“You sound so much like Gaius when you’re working,” said Alice. 

“Do I?” asked Merlin, blinking his way back into the present. “I never noticed.”

“I don’t know,” said Arthur, “Gaius tends to insult his patients less than you do.”

“You’d miss it if I didn’t insult you,” retorted Merlin. 

Alice watched Merlin and Arthur stare stubbornly at each other for a moment, before Merlin looked away. Arthur grinned at his slight victory, one arm still around Merlin’s waist. 

“Alice,” said Merlin. “About what you were saying about Gaius being bad at forgiving himself? I was thinking.”

“Yes?” prompted Alice. 

“Don’t hurt yourself,” said Arthur, at the same time.

“I’m choosing to ignore that you said that,” Merlin informed him, shifting on the bench to face Alice completely, leaning against Arthur’s side. 

“I think we should do something for him,” he continued. “As a reminder that he is loved and trusted.”

Alice smiled. 

“Did you have something in mind?” 

“I haven’t gotten to that part of the plan,” admitted Merlin, and Arthur snorted. 

“You could just tell me,” said Arthur.

“And here,” said Merlin, gesturing to Arthur grandly, “if further evidence that Arthur has no idea what he’s doing when it comes to expressions of love.”

“I do too!” said Arthur, shoving Merlin off of him. “Listen, I don’t remember much about when I was really little, but I remember that I always wanted to be with Gaius because he would tell me when I did well when no one else ever did.”

“If I ever meet your father in the afterlife-” threatened Alice, and Merlin nodded. 

“I think you might be onto something,” said Merlin, after a thoughtful pause. “Gaius does tend to express his love with words.”

“And if that’s how he shows love,” said Arthur, smiling, “then it’s probably how he receives it too. I’m not stupid.”

Merlin grinned. 

“Yes to the first and no to the second,” he said, ducking away as Arthur moved to hit him on the arm. 

“If you two keep up your bickering, he’ll be back before you’ve decided what you’re going to do,” said Alice, grinning as she checked to make sure that Gaius was still in the back room. 

“Right,” said Merlin. “Well, I’m not the best at expressing emotions verbally.”

“And neither am I,” added Arthur. 

Merlin gasped dramatically. 

“Arthur discovers humility!”

“Shut it,” said Arthur, and Merlin stuck his tongue out at him. 

“What if we write to him? We can write it now and even have it delivered later, if you want.” proposed Alice. Merlin and Arthur both nodded. 

“That’s perfect,” said Merlin. “Arthur, go and get us paper from over there,” he added, gesturing in the general direction of one of the overflowing shelves that lined the room.

“Why do I have to do it?” asked Arthur, as he stood up. 

“You’re missing training right now,” pointed out Merlin, and Arthur rolled his eyes.

“I hardly think that walking across a room is going to make up for that,” he retorted, sliding a clean sheet of paper out of a stack. 

“Would you like to do the writing, Merlin, or shall I?” asked Alice, cutting off Merlin’s retort. 

“You should,” said Merlin, quickly. “My handwriting is practically chicken scratch.”

“Merlin,” called Arthur, “where does Gaius keep his quills?”

“Next shelf over and under the berries,” replied Merlin, as if that was a perfectly normal response. 

Arthur shifted a handful of berries out of the way and drew out a rumbled quill, which he presented to Alice. 

“Keeping your workspace clear, the liar,” said Alice, shaking her head. “This whole place is just a sham of well organized chaos.”

Merlin laughed. Arthur stayed standing, hands on Merlin’s shoulders. Merlin leaned back against him as Alice prepared the quill. 

“Shall we begin?” she asked, quill hovering over the paper. 

After several minutes of hushed whispers and the scratch of the quill, the door to the back room opened, and Gaius leaned out. Alice hurriedly shoved the paper behind a pile of books, and Merlin and Arthur both nearly fell over turning to look at Gaius. 

“Is everything alright out here,” asked Gaius, raising an eyebrow. “It all got very quiet all of a sudden.”

“We’re fine,” Alice said with a smile. 

“Everything’s fine,” said Arthur, overlapping Alice’s words. 

“Arthur tried to murder me again,” said Merlin.

The last statement seemed to appease Gaius, who nodded and stepped back into the other room. 

“Well,” he said, “If he succeeds, tell him he’ll be curing his own magic injuries from now on as an apology.”

“Will do!” said Merlin, cheerfully. 

Gaius shut the door, and Arthur looked down at Merlin in disbelief. 

“Arthur tried to kill me?” he asked. 

“Again?” questioned Alice. 

Merlin shrugged. 

“Let’s finish our letter,” he said, drawing the paper back into the middle of the table. “All that’s left is to sign it.”

Alice signed her name in small print at the bottom of the page. Merlin signed what was presumably his name, but really did look like chicken scratch. Arthur signed his name last, in loopy script. 

“There,” said Alice, setting out the paper for the ink to dry. “Now, when shall we send it to him?”

“Saint Valentine’s day is coming up, isn’t it?” point out Arthur, playing with the knot in Merlin’s scarf. 

“You’re the only one who would know that, you royal prat,” said Merlin, tilting his head back to glare at Arthur.

“It is coming up,” said Alice, rolling the letter up and tying it closed. “That would be a good time to send it.”

“See Merlin?” said Arthur, taking the letter from Alice. “Some people around here use their brains occasionally. I’ll have it sent to him then.”

“Send what?” asked Gaius, reappearing from the back room. 

“Nothing!” said Alice, Merlin, and Arthur, in perfect unison. Behind their backs, all three of them had their fingers crossed. 

“That can’t be true,” said Gaius, putting his book down on a nearby table. 

“Well,” said Merlin, “it’s practically nothing. Just a reminder for a good friend of ours that they're loved."

**Author's Note:**

> References to Day 5 - 1/2


End file.
